The Tales of the West
by DiMencia
Summary: These are stories centered around a young Jesse McCree, dealing with the question, 'What if Jesse McCree had joined Talon instead of Overwatch.' Later on, there may be McCree and reader interaction but only if enough people are interested in that option. There will not be any smut.
1. Chapter 1

Jesse closed one eye, carefully lining his shot. He was sitting deep in one of the booths of the Panorama Diner, left leg resting on top of his right knees as he manoeuvred his holstered revolver at the target. His objective was a large, fat and wealthy land-owner from the lovely state of Texas named Jacob 'Timmy' Jacobson, who had come to the arid canyon that housed the Deadlock Gang. He had arrived that very day in an expensive jet plane, having orchestrated a meeting with some members of the local gang. His pitch? A great amount of dirty oil money in exchange for a private military, should there ever be another Omnic uprising. He took a breath to stabilize his grip on his gun. If things went according to plan, one bullet would be enough and just like Amelie said, 'A single death can change **everything.** ' Talon was confident that business would be more profitable with Timmy's successor anyway.

Suddenly, the hiss of static and a ping in his ear-com distracted him, causing him to remove his hand from the handle of his revolver and press a finger to activate the communicator, hand lowering back down, mimicking the motion of scratching some stubble.

"Jesse here," He whispered, not wanting to give away his location in the Panorama diner. Hat lowered over his eyes so as to not be recognized, he cast a quick glance at where Timmy sat at. He was currently alone saving for two obvious incognito bodyguards seated at his sides. It was standard procedure for Deadlock to leave the client simmering for a while before going into see what was wanted. Jesse was betting on this still being the modus operandi with the gang, as it would be easier to simply kill the tycoon and leave quickly amidst the commotion.

There was silence for a moment and Amelie's thick accented voice was heard from the other end. "What did I tell you about closing your eye. What are you, a cowboy of your American spaghetti westerns? No it is even worse, you are an idiot. Now, take aim with both eyes OPEN and kill the target." With a sharp click the connection went dead and Jesse let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes. Leave it to Amelie to have eyes everywhere. He lifted his hat slightly and spotted a security camera, an old fashioned 'Homeboy' sitting atop the counter. A red light blinked and he smirked, lifting a middle finger slightly in a clear one finger salute to whomever had hacked into that ancient piece of tech. It was no secret in Talon that Amelie was jealous of Jesse's rising status as one of their best assassins but the animosity went both ways. Now they did not hate each other too much. If paired together for a mission there was no team that could stand against them.

A sharp click in his ear piece let him know that the message had been received and understood, eliciting a large grin from him as he grabbed the cup of caff before him and took a sliver of a sip. Grimacing, he placed it back on the table, the taste of boiled dirt staying on his tongue as he silently cursed the stinginess of the diner owner for not buying decent coffee beans. He was about to return to taking careful aim when a waitress stepped in between Timmy and the bullet that had his name on it. Jesse growled with displeasure before taking a closer look at the waitress. She was new, that much was certain but he had never seen her before in the Deadlock town. Didn't look like any girl he had ever been sweet on. Didn't look like any girl any of his friends had been sweet on.

Strangers were unheard of in the tiny town, only ever passing through because they had taken Route 66 in order to cut on time or something else. He squinted his eyes, more to remove distraction that to see her better. Long brown hair was not that odd, nor was her stature. Women did grow smaller than men in the area. She turned her head slightly to talk/flirt with one of the bodyguards and he saw some pink markings on her cheeks. Jesse could only stare with disbelief as he recognized Hana Song, one of Overwatch's new recruits. Hard to recognize outside of her mech unit but no normal woman would have pink rabbit whiskers tattooed on her face to begin with.

Jesse lifted a hand slowly to his earcom and pressed the button twice, signaling for a mission compromise. Several seconds later Amelie came online, having revised the situation through the camera's in the diner. "I see... our intelligence did warn us about possible Overwatch involvement. Hold on, I will get Gabriel on the line." That caused Jesse to shiver. The Latino ex-Blackwatch leader was in a class of his own when it came to assassination and espionage. Usually he teamed up with Amelie but it was mainly in order to have eyes in the sky to warn him of danger.

A shuffle of what sounded like papers was heard and the velvety voice of Gabriel Reyes' startled Jesse. "Reyes here. Hana Song is the latest addition to Jack Morrison's retinue of super soldiers. She doesn't look like much but her trigger finger is just as fast as yours, Jesse. Do not engage. I wish to see what Overwatch is up to these days..."

It was rumored in Talon that Reyes had handed in his resignation to Strike-Commander Jack Morrison and exited the front door to an awaiting Talon airship that had landed there using Reyes' still active codes. Another hiss of static and Grabriel's voice was heard once more. "Jesse, see if you can see a black haired Japanese man near Hana, or keeping her in sight. That is Genji Shimada, he joined Overwatch about the same time you joined Talon. Find him and keep him in sight. He is dangerous."

With a click the connection went dead and Jesse did as he was told, eyes scanning the diner but failing to spot any such person. He did however spot a green haired young man twirling a throwing star in one finger as he warily looked at the caff cup. 'Found him...' thought Jesse. 'So, two Overwatch operatives and one Jesse McCree... throw in another two to their team and it's a fair fight.' He was debating what to do when suddenly a large monster of a man entered through the diner doors, dressed in some coveralls, a strange looking gas mask, some suspenders... and nothing else, really. Safe for a very sharp and dangerous looking meat hook. Following close behind was a thin male whose hair seemed to be in permanent state of ignition, smoke trailing over his head as he followed the hulking beast to the counter. 'What in the tarnation...' This was clearly not Jesse's day and a click in his communicator let him know that things could possibly get worse.

"Reyes here," Jesse scowled. As if anyone in Talon had a voice like that. "Those two are Mako Rutledge and Jamison Fawkes, also known as Roadhog and Junkrat, they are mercenaries from Junkertown." The shuffling of gloved fingers on tactile screens increased in loudness as Reyes processed new information and modified the plan in conformity. "Alright Jesse change of plans, I've just received information that Ana Amari and Angela Ziegler are en route to your location. Seems they are trying to make a deal with Timmy here and hoping to steal a client from the Deadlock Gang." Fingers busily typed away at a screen and several seconds passed before a faint ping indicated a message received. Reyes scoffed and the sound of his fist hitting the table slipped into Jesse's ear. Off in the distance it could be heard that Amelie was not pleased with this display, as a heavily French accented voice resounded somewhere by Reyes saying, "That is mahogany!"

Jesse could almost picture Reyes waving away Amelie's comment before turning to the microphone to deliver his next instructions. "Jesse, abort mission. Reinhardt Wilhelm is escorting Ana and Angela." Jesse swallowed. Throwing the German crushing machine into the mix leveled the playing field too much in the favor of Overwatch. Mako and Jamison were here too, most likely hired by Overwatch to ensure things proceeded smoothly. He was out numbered, out gunned and out planned. The situation was worsening by the minute. He went to settle his bill and suddenly the form of Hana Song filled his view as she leaned in to pour him some more coffee, sending adrenaline into his body as for just a moment he thought that his cover was blown. "Hey mister," she grinned as she leaned on the table, curving pink whiskers in sharp contrast of her pale skin. "Leaving already?" Jesse flashed a shaky faux grin as he stood up, tipping his hat as a reflex reaction to women. "Mighty fine eyes you have." He said as she smiled at him and placed his plate on her serving tray. "Certainly am. Business calls me elsewhere." He nodded at her and then made a show of pulling a ten dollar tip for her. "For such lovely service..." He flashed his best drop-dead smile as he gave her the dollar bill and once more tipped his hat. Turning to the door, he swallowed as he made his way, spurs clinking in the diner; torturously slow so as to not arouse suspicion on himself. Walking by the two Australians and past the homeboy camera system, he finally reached the doors and opened them, the dry desert air a very welcome change to the stifling interior that the diner had become in the last five minutes.

Now free to talk without giving himself away, he pressed a finger to his communication device, set the line to open until he closed it and waited for the doors to slam shut. "This is Jesse." He said before placing a cigar in his mouth and lighting it with his Zippo, snapping it shut after several seconds and killing the flame as he pocketed the metal rectangle. He cast a look at the large Harley Davidson motorcycle that sported a grinning sidecar. Most like Mako's and Jamison's, so he made sure to steer clear of it. That large man's hook was no good to anyone's health. He puffed a drag and exhaled the smoke through his nose as he turned the key on his own BMW motorcycle. The engine roared to life as the frame lifted itself up by the repulsor lifts that had replaced the wheels at his behest and he set himself on the leather seat, roaring away under the bridge and into the dark tunnel that opened invitingly away from the diner. Just as he entered it, he heard the whooshing sound of large repulsor engines and he guessed correctly that Ana, Angela and Reinhardt had just arrived at the parking lot. He had made his escape just in time.

The hiss of static filled his ear and Reyes' voice was heard from Talon HQ. "Seems you managed to escape in the nick of time, that's good. Head over to extraction point Beta, I'll have a scout-ship pick you up so we can debrief you and figure out what to do from here on." Jesse sighed as he revved the motorcycle and sped away. No rest for the weary. He pressed down his hat on his head and sped up, engine whining loudly as he roared away, wind whistling past, making his short cloak flutter behind as it snapped at the wind. It was forty-five minutes of silent driving before he pulled over to a little used service exit. Soon the light began to fill the tunnel and he slowed down, the familiar hum of a Talon scout-ship nearby as he applied the brakes and turned sharply towards the scant trees on the right side of the road, the shimmering form of a cloaked air-ship visible now that he paid closer attention. Tipping his hat, he revved the engine one more time before shutting down the engine, getting off the seat and groaning as he stretched his legs, knees popping due to being still for that long a time.

The hatch opened and into the dust walked a female agent, face covered in a form fitting helmet with the Talon insignia on her chest. Nodding at him, she grabbed his motorcycle and began to pull it into the ship before releasing it at Jesse's behest. "Man's gotta have some rules... I can do the heavy lifting." He took the frame by the handlebar and pulled it along, the vehicle only offering token resistance when it met with the ramp. The pilot grabbed a hook cable and attached it to the middle of the handlebar, the powerful and silent engine pulling the hefty motorcycle into the extra-vehicular container. Once safely inside, the pilot punched a button on the control board and the door hissed shut, the outside suddenly muted by the hermetically closed interior. Kicking his legs up, he rested his legs and leaned his hat over his eyes, preparing for the long four-hour flight back to Talon HQ. Taking one last drag, he blindly tossed it into the waste bin bolted to the floor, the interior flaring orange as the new item was incinerated. Shifting slightly, he checked once that the pilot did not expect any conversation and settled in for some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I must say that is is a pleasant surprise to see people reading this. Thank you two that followed and to the one cool person that favorited. This lets me know that there is an audience. Also, do not be afraid to review with suggestions. I alwasy take those into consideration. Enjoy.**

Jesse slumbered in the scout ship, tired and exhausted. So the natural outcome was to sleep. He had his legs propped up, it was quiet and cool. His body easily surrendered to the beckoning sands of Morpheus and he began to snore gently, falling into the light dream state as his body relaxed for the first time in several days. Jesse dreamed of the day he met Gabriel Reyes, in a sting operation on the Deadlock Gang orchestrated by Blackwatch… and covertly executed by Talon.

The wind was blowing gently through the canyon floor, lifting up dust but bringing a welcome freshness to the dry air they have been stewing in for the last hour. Spinning his revolver before holstering it, Jesse turned to his fellow gang member and friend, Cyrus. At least, as close to a friend as anyone in the gang could be. The boss had told them to wait for the buyer and waiting they had been, sitting pretty on a container full of assault rifles and shoulder-mounted explosive launchers but so far, the only thing that had shown up was a rattle snake, now sizzling on the open flame of a make-shift fire. Poking at the scaled body with a stick, Cyrus looked up at Jesse and began whistling a little tune, finally flipping over the carcass and causing a fresh shower of sparks to rise up in the air, swiftly taken away by the wind.

The smell of cooked rattle snake entered Jesse's nose and his stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten anything decent that morning so he was quite hungry and the sight of Cyrus's homemade rattler sauce sent his salivary glands working overtime, the prospect of a decent meal all the more appealing now. Removing a canteen from his belt, he placed two shot glasses on the container and grabbed a large flat rock, bringing it over to the weapons container as a makeshift chair. Using his large hunting knife, Cyrus stabbed the rattle snake and tossed it onto the top of the weapons container, the still hot flesh sizzling as he used a gloved hand to hold the body still and cut away at it. Holding it by the tail, he sliced away at the body in long strips, peeling the oily meat away from the spine and placing the strips before Jesse, who knew what his job was. Jesse grabbed the strips of flesh and ripped away the scaly skin from the muscle, tossing the now useless leather away.

Finally done preparing the meal, Jesse and Cyrus sat down at the container, snake meat deliciously cooked and now crispy if albeit a little black. An eagle screeched and swooped down, hooked talons grabbing both piles of meat and flying away, stealing their work and leaving them to fume in silent fury. Cyrus sighed and then pulled out a harmonica, blowing a soulful tune as the wind slowed and then flat out died down. The heat rose and both gang members started sweating. Something didn't feel right to Jesse; where was the client? Why had they been asked to wait near the weapons cache for several hours? It didn't make sense. The townspeople knew better than to interfere with Deadlock business so there was no danger to the goods the client wanted to buy. The back of Jesse's neck prickled and he slowly went for his revolver, just barely reaching it when a loud crack echoed in the canyon walls, blood spattered Jesse in the face and Cyrus slumped forward, a hole where the side of his face used to be, blood and brain leaking out as his remaining eye stared glassily through the large weapons container. Jesse jumped back, head snapping away from the path of the bullet aimed for him as it zipped past his head and crashed against the orange stone that composed the majority of the canyon wall.

Figures in black armor started rappelling down the sides of the steep cliffs around him and all he could do was get on his knees, hands on his head as he waited to be arrested. Clearly this had been a sting operation and clearly, someone back in Deadlock had been bribed to organize it. Likelier than not it had been the boss who had done this, using some of the best stuff they had as a distraction. A chuckle resonated from one of the agent's near him, the sound muffled as he began cuffing him and roughly making Jesse get up, a snide laugh escaping another agent as he made a quick remark. "Someone got lucky."

Jesse laughed. Luck had indeed had a lot to do with it. He was still grinning when he smashed his head against the helmet of the agent behind him and rolled forward, smashing the handcuff links against a stone, the metal shards spinning wildly in the air as he finished drawing his revolver, unloading it onto the chest of the next agent closest to him, metal bracelet around his hand flashing in the sun as he quickly fanned the hammer of his gun sending six bullets into a burly agent, sending him flying off, blood streaming from six smoking holes on his chest. Throwing himself behind a large boulder, Jesse prepared himself to die in a gunfight, a sad smile on his lips as he reloaded the chamber, shells trailing smoke as they tumbled past his fingers and clinked merrily on the dusty stone floor, the primal song of death dying away quickly as he stood up, almost feeling as if the air had turned to thick syrup, his movements sluggish but nonetheless precise. He stood still, revolver out as he quickly noted the location of the attackers and then faster than the eye could follow, he fired six bullets for six of the agents, the metal slugs spinning quickly and breaking through helmets, cracking bone and destroying whatever lay beneath. For some an eye and the brain and for others a slug of metal neatly through their foreheads; Nonetheless, six agents were dead as Jesse holstered his revolver and looked up at the sky. Airships were flying overhead and more ropes were streaming down the canyon sides. He closed his eyes, expecting the cold kiss of death as that same sharpshooter that had killed Cyrus took careful aim and sent a bullet zipping through his skull at twenty five hundred feet a second. But nothing happened.

Jesse opened his eyes and saw a tall Latino man walking up to him, lips scarred and pressed in a tight line the only sign of his emotional state and Jesse knew it did not bode well for him. Thinking of something he could say that would stall his attackers he didn't see the gloved fist careening at his face, nor did he feel the ground when he slammed against it, eyes losing focus and unsure how he got there before the welcoming darkness took him into her embrace.

Reyes looked at the unconscious form of the young cowboy and then at the eight 'elite' agents that Talon had given him to take the weapons without having to pay. Not that he cared. He might have just found a new recruit… Crouching near the unconscious form of Jesse, Reyes grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closer, the cowboy's head lolling back and arms flapping down on the dusty floor. Peering closely, scanning for something and to Reyes' satisfaction not finding it, he dropped the youth and stood, fist making a circle in the air as more agents joined in and started attaching support cables to the weapon's container, running scans and confirming that the large metal crate did indeed, contain a great deal of heavy weaponry, ranging from heavy pulse rifles to mounted energy cannons. Reyes oversaw all of this and then turned to a female agent, tapping her shoulder and causing her to almost drop her rifle when she noticed him right next to her. She snapped a salute and stood at attention. "Load him into my ship and set a course in it for Talon HQ." Reyes' rich voice echoed softly in the canyon amidst the hustle and bustle of Talon soldiers. Nodding, she watched as her superior officer left her alone to figure out how in the hells to load the heavier if somewhat younger male by herself.

Meanwhile the weaponry was cataloged on site, evaluated and promptly air lifted into a large cargo ship that thundered over head, cables shooting down to be locked in place by the agents on the ground and lifting the heavy metal box in the air, cables taut and quivering as the vibrations of the cable engines traveled through the interlaced metal. Soon, the box was safely within the belly of the cargo ship and it roared away, the only remnant of its existence the echoes of the thrum generated by the large repulsor engines before those too, faded away.

Jesse groaned and attempted to sit up before a pounding headache convinced him otherwise. Sitting on what seemed to be a metal chair and cuffed to a metal table, he listened attentively for anything that could betray his whereabouts but silence was the only answer to his query. He opened his eyes, casting them around. He was in a cell, like the ones he saw in the cop shows back in the gang recreation room. Off to his right was a mirror, so most likely a one way window for whoever was behind. Raising both hands as far as they could go whilst still cuffed to the table, he aimed them at the mirror and raised twin one-fingered salutes. The door to the cell opened, a large rectangle of the wall that swiveled to let in the same Latino who, Jesse guessed, had knocked him out earlier.

The man carried a chair and placed it near the table, tossing a folder with Jesse's name on it. Silence was king as the man slowly unwound some thread and opened the file, thick with papers it looked like a detailed compendium of Jesse's criminal activities, which of course it was. The man licked his thumb and began passing the pages, the sound deafening in the confined and deathly silent space. Arching an eyebrow at something that caught his attention, the man turned to Jesse after reading the information and saying, "Says here you studied to be a priest."

Jesse was struck. No one knew about that. He had kept it a secret from everyone he ever came across and he was certain that the school he had attended had burned down in the Omnic crisis, all the information it had on its students turned to ashes after a particularly fateful air strike. Jesse swallowed, sweat beading up with nerves. Whoever these people were, they were good at what they did and underestimating them would end in his death, whether he liked it or not and there was no doubt he would not like it. Nodding mutely, the cowboy awaited whatever sentence the man would pass.

All the while, Reyes kept passing pages, using a pen he had in his pocket to annotate on the margins or to underline something that caught his eye. Finally, after ten minutes of silence and letting Jesse simmer in his own stew Reyes took a breath and closed the folder, winding the threat so as to keep it from opening. Pushing it to the side he pocketed his pen and laced his fingers together on the table. Jesse swallowed, heart beating quickly. He was too young to die and he wanted to live life and enjoy its pleasures. Reyes tapped his chin before grabbing Jesse's hat and exiting the room. Now he was furious. No one took Jesse's hat, no one.

Taking a deep breath, Reyes stood behind the one way mirror, the boy's hat in his hand as he observed what the kid would do. Jesse didn't look like much but he had managed to kill eight Talon soldiers so that warranted a closer look. It gave the impression that he was saying something. Flicking a switch to activate the microphones located around the cell, Reyes stood, very impressed at Jesse's vocabulary for English and Spanish swear words that would have made any nun in any catholic school blush and hurry for the bar of soap.

"Give me back my hat pendejo! Lechuzo, harto sopa, guantanamera! Que pareces un cansino! Dame mi somebrero que te voy dar un guantazo en to' los dientes asi a bocajarro, que te bas a despertar in anciano! Tu eres tonto o te has dao un golpe en un pollete?! Te viu dar un guantazo que vas a perder la orientación del espacio-tiempo! Te via dar una torta que nos vamos a morir los dos! Tu de la torta y yo de la onda expansiva!" Indeed, Jesse McCree prided himself in being able to talk smack in several languages but since the man that had taken his hat was Latino, it was a safe bet that he understood Spanish and English. "At least give me back my fucking hat!"

Reyes grinned savagely. This was material for a recruit he could mold into the perfect assassin. Fearless when something was taken from him and brave to the realm of stupidity, but that could be cured. He nodded. This was well worth the price of eight 'elite' agents. Hell, it would be worth a great deal more once this cowboy hick was conditioned to absolute loyalty to Talon. Reyes considered for a moment before exiting, Leaving Jesse to fume and mouth off. He had a resignation to write up.


	3. Unexpected Visitors

**Please leave a review. Those are a real encouragement.**

Jesse had been asleep for the entirety of the flight back to HQ, so when the pilot had turned around to see if he needed waking up, she was greeted by the sight of a hat on the floor, mouth agape and snoring loudly Jesse McCree. Shaking her head, she pressed a button and waited patiently for the codes to be transmitted and authenticated, being redirected to a landing pad where she would wait for an approval to enter Talon air-space. Drumming her fingers on the dashboard, she did not notice anything as Jesse stretched, groaning and standing up after grabbing his hat and planting it firmly on his head. Casually walking over to the forward viewport, Jesse sat down on the co-pilots chair, startling the female pilot and snapping her out of her reverie. Tipping his hat, he flashed a grin and nodded at the view. "So, what are we waiting for?" He asked, eyes curiously glancing around the dashboard. Controls were written on a language he did not know but that didn't matter. He was a quick learner and one never knew when knowing how to pilot a Talon scout-ship would come in handy.

It was Jesse's turn to be surprised. Pressing the buttons at the side of her neck piece, the helmet lifted off with a hiss of steam and she took it off, shaking her red hair loose from the cramped state it had been for the last several hours, pale white skin flushed from being confined to that helmet for so long. He grinned and extended a gloved hand, ready to romance the pilot into teaching him how to fly her ship. However, Talon did not hire women that were easy to impress. It actually hired women that did the impressing in order to get to state secrets or to get to fortunes. Jesse would have a hard time wooing that femme fatale.

As Jesse and the pilot had exited the Deadlock Gang land, an omnic looking to make some money had tagged the ship with a location sensor of its own design. Noticing the fact that several Overwatch higher-ups were in the area, it had quickly scampered to the Panorama diner, where negotiations with Jacob "Timmy" Jacobson had just begun to successfully end when it arrived. Getting the attention of Reinhardt Wilhelm, it had managed to transmit it's message and been rewarded a substantial amount of money for the information before being destroyed by Omnic hater Jameson Fawkes, though not before Jamison successfully managed to steal the funds the omnic had received from Overwatch. The location of Talon HQ in the United States was no longer a secret and Strike Commander Morrison soon would dispatch a team of elite Overwatch operatives to scout the area.

Jesse however, was busy trying to ask the unnamed pilot if she wanted to go eat something somewhere later when the communications LED light began to blink silently. Putting her helmet back on and ending the one sided conversation, Jesse watched as the pilot began to flick switches left and right, pressing buttons and pulling at levers. He gave up; this ship was no designed to be user friendly at all. Pulling his cigar case from a pocket, he tugged out one brown cylinder and shut the silver case shut, hiding it deep in the pockets of his uniform. Biting into one end, he snapped open the head and spat it out, deftly scoring the waste bin on the first try; a skill learned from his many times in rodeos and bars where spittoons were still in use. He half-closed his eyes as he dug for his Zippo, finally finding it with a satisfied smile, thumb jabbing at the flint wheel, lighting the wick and causing a large flame to emanate from the opening. He sucked at the cigar a few time before finally putting away the lighter.

The pilot turned to him, the blank features of her helmet not needing an actual face to express her distaste for smoking. Jesse's only reply was a long drag from his cigar, the tip glowing a light red before fading to grey as he took it out of his mouth and blew a large smoke ring that undulated out and scored a direct hit around her head. A satisfied glint in his eyes as he did a small fist pump before her and chuckled, biting the cigar in place as the ship rose and sped away into Talon airspace. It was a silent five minute flight in which Jesse did his best to fill the cramped space they shared with cigar smoke as retaliation to the previous one sided conversation. Finally, much to the obvious delight of the pilot, the ship landed and the side compartment opened, dropping Jesse's motorcycle in an attempt to bang it up. Luckily for Jesse though, he always left on the repulsor lifts just in case something much like that happened. He laughed, nudging the pilots shoulder with a gloved fist, letting her know he held no ill will and pressed the emergency open button, even though they were only six feet in the air. Jumping down, Jesse landed in a crouch and stood, dusting his boots before quickly turning the ignition on the motorbike and speeding away, dust being kicked up as he left behind the servicemen that rushed to refuel and refit the ship, prepping it for its next mission.

Jesse grinned, one hand on his head in order to keep his hat in place as he sped along the large hangar area, the air turning from dry and hot to dry and cold quickly as he exited the outside staging zone and entered the hangar proper. Spotting Amelie and Gabriel off in the distance, he revved his engine and went a little faster to meet them but then slowed down to a halt as he noticed they were having an animated dispute. He mounted off his bike and tapped a service man on the shoulder, handing him a fifty dollar bill and telling to have his bike done up with the works, refuel, refit and oiling. He started walking towards the two agents and paused for a moment to give one final drag to his cigar before flicking it away with an expert finger snap, the butt sailing away and hopefully into a trashcan.

Walking up to the two officers, Jesse removed his hat and withdrew a security card from its interior, swiping it at the card reader next to the nigh invisible bulletproof glass doors. As they opened with a soft hiss, he returned his card to its hiding spot and entered the presence of Gabriel Reyes and Amelie Lacroix. Whatever discussion the two had been in the middle they seemed to have decided to leave it for another time as they both turned to Jesse and Reyes motioned to an open elevator that would take them to the offices on the top floor and where Jesse could be debriefed privately. They boarded it, Reyes swiping his I.D card and pulling on a lever, sending them to his office.

The elevator ceased its racket as soon as they reached the hallway that housed Reyes' living quarters, office and rec room, a pool table visible behind the tinted glass doors. Jesse made a mental note to test the incline of that pool table. It wouldn't do for his boss to have subpar entertainment equipment. Reyes sat down at his seat and motioning for Amelie and Jesse to do likewise, both of them sitting at opposite sides of his desk. Jesse used the situation to stretch his legs and kick them up on the empty chair, spurs glinting as Reyes arched an eyebrow at his rebellious behavior before pulling out a large crystal tablet, taking off one of his gloves and pressing the thumb on the screen. He did not look pleased.

Jesse noticed his two fellow agents looked taciturn, so he decided to join in on the club, crossing his arms and casting furtive glances around as Reyes read the contents in the datapad while putting his glove back on. Amelie was picking at something on her delicately manicured nails, blue lips pursed in a tight line as she concentrated. Just as Jesse was debating the most entertaining way to break the silence, Reyes cleared his throat and thus calling for the pair's attention. "Jacob 'Timmy' Jacobson has just signed a contract with Overwatch, providing funding in exchange for a private army of elite Overwatch agents. Seems that he is terrified of the thought of another Omnic uprising…" Reyes typed something in the keyboard inlaid on his desk and frowned as the virtual monitors bathed his face with light while the query was processed. Grunting with displeasure, he waved away the holographic screens and looked at Amelie and Jesse squarely in the eye. "Seems the scout ship you came here with was compromised. A homemade tracking device was found not five minutes ago, sending a simple and thus unnoticeable line of code to some tin-can back in Deadlock territory."

Jesse groaned. This did not bode well for him. Reyes continued. "The device was summarily destroyed after a scan traced the message trails back to an old slicer unit short on some cash. Oddly enough, the unit was destroyed shortly after the device was found but we must assume that the location of Talon HQ is compromised." Jesse stood and walked over to the large room length window, taking a breath. He had only just become acclimated to the desert waste they were located at. Now they were going to have to relocate and destroy the base. Talon standard procedure usually called for a tactical nuke in order to safeguard group secrets but only Reyes, Amelie and Jesse were aware of the shortage of monetary fund's the terrorist group suffered from.

He blinked slowly then peered into the distance, the sun having set recently and bathing the dessert floor with orange and yellow glows. Jesse went to reach for his cigar case, needing to calm himself with some unwholesome vices when he spotted off in the distance a blinking red light, stark in the back drop of light blue that was that part of the sky. Squinting his eyes, this time to see better and what he saw made him drop his cigar case. Whirling to Reyes, he pointed at that spot in the sky. "Are we expecting any Overwatch dissidents?" He asked, hoping against all hope that indeed that was the case. Reyes shook his head before slamming a hand on a large red button on his desk, a laser examining his eyes and confirming that indeed, it was Gabriel Reyes who was ordering the evacuation. Satisfied, the desk went dark and the claxon of alarms resounded around the compound, large flood lights activating and swirling around the sky in order to spot approaching air craft. A mechanical voice resonated, ordering all Talon personnel to enter their evacuation craft and to place a distance of one-hundred and twenty kilometers from the base in order to avoid immediate death from the nuclear self-destruct blast that would emanate from the large fifty kiloton nuclear head buried beneath the center of the base.

Jesse groaned to himself. "Is that really necessary?" He protested as he sped out of Reyes' office, the large Latino growling some sort of response as the night sky was filled with the streaks of blue light that were discharged from the large pulse cannon emplacements around the base. Large triangular Talon airships lifted in the air and sped away in seemingly random directions but actually following an established set of rules that entered into effect in this very situation. All personnel were instructed and drilled for the event of their base being found and having to evacuate it before the nuclear blast engulfed it in a miniature star. They all had their rendezvous points and they all knew to keep low while Talon found a suitable location for the next base.

Jesse sped away, quickly left behind by Reyes and Amelie and redoubling his speed as the mechanical voice began the thirty minute countdown. The self-destruct option was not a tool used to kill the enemy, but more to preserve the secrets bound within; secrets that would destroy governments and unbalance nations if they were released ahead of their prescribed time, since it wouldn't do to have an information leak that could harm the reputations of some clients.

So it was that Jesse, Reyes and Amelie all got into their shared airship and sped away. No time to gather personal belongings or to mourn the loss of property. Setting down on a stone outcropping far away, they got sat in their chairs and looked at where their base stood for the moment, swarms of Overwatch air ships flying in the air like bees. Amelie closed her eyes. She had left the picture of hers and Gerard's wedding day on her desk. Reyes glowered at the spots of light and suddenly turned around, motioning for the two to follow suit. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds and then it seemed as if it was day once more, the light of the nuclear explosion brightly painting the panorama a stark yellow as the cloud enveloped the base and covered it in a cloud as large as a biosphere.


	4. As planned

**So it helps a lot if you guys favorite and follow. Maybe a review where you tell me that you liked it. Lie, it helps a lot. A LOT.**

Strike Commander Morrison's door opened and in came Fareeha Amari, the black eye of Horus tattoo under her right eye giving an intense feel to her facial expressions at any given moment. Closing the door behind her, she stood at attention for several seconds before standing at ease. Morrison arched an eyebrow, silently giving her permission to speak freely and sitting back on his chair. Fareeha took a breath and did as she was told. "The attack on Talon HQ was a failure, our ships were spotted several miles away from the grounds themselves and when they arrived at the base itself it was empty. It seems that Talon has drilled into their employees the need for urgent evacuation, and with good reason." At this Commander Morrison looked confused. "What do you mean, 'and with good reason'?" He asked her, activating his computer and calling up the file on the mission, freshly logged into the database. Fareeha continued despite the fact that the commander's attention was located elsewhere. "All Talon agents had evacuated their base and were long gone when the scout ships landed on site and the troops entered the base proper, taking several data readings when one of the Omnic security forces detected a severe radiation spike." Morrison was shocked. "They nuked their own base?!" He asked standing and bracing himself on the desk while Fareeha nodded. "Did anyone survive?" At this she mutedly shook her head. The commander was aghast. "What was the yield?" He softly inquired. Talon would never do anything overt, else their cover would be blown and they would be openly hunted by all countries in the world. Something small had to have been in use, maybe a twenty kiloton warhead. That had the destructive capability to level any building and yet cause no casualties if it was located far away enough. Nothing would have prepared to him for Fareehas answer. "Commander, Talon used a nuclear warhead of Russian design, nicknamed the Tsar Bomba, as their security measure. There were no survivors anywhere in a fifty kilometer radius of the blast." Morrison sat down heavily on his chair, feeling as if a large weight had been placed on his shoulders. "What are the casualty numbers…" He asked, already feeling his hair going whiter than it already was. "Three thousand six hundred and eighty casualties, with many more wounded and in critical condition." Waving a hand in dismissal, he sighed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose while he read the mission report. Fareeha saluted and then exited, leaving the commander to think by himself.

Things were not going any better for Jesse, Reyes and Amelie. The ship had shielded them from the more harmful radiation particles and they were indeed flying to their rendezvous but the navigation systems had taken the brunt of the energetic radiation, frying the GPS and location systems. They could see where they were going, but that was about it. Luckily for them, Reyes knew a Talon sympathizer who lived close by in the Wastes, her habitation located in the little ghost town of Telluride. Jesse sat on one of the comfortable seats in the center of the ship, the chair surrounding a large oaken table with a decanter of liquor in the center, magnetically stuck to the surface so as to avoid any spoilage of the velvety cushions that covered the heavy wooden chairs. Clearly there were perks to being in the Talon elite. Jesse, looked around while patting his pockets, in search for an ash tray. He hissed under his breath, now remembering that his cigar case most likely a lump of boiling metal melded with lumps of boiling and highly radioactive stones. Jesse swore under his breath and served himself a generous serving of whiskey, the currant colored liquid flowing smoothly from the crystal lips of the bottle. Jesse frowned. It read 'Whiskey' on the bottle, but this looked more like a very brown wine… He grabbed the glass and took a careful sniff from its contents before coughing and blinking away tears. It was whiskey alright, just a much stronger variety than what he was used to. Reyes snorted as he closed down the screen with which he had been observing the cowboy. Pleased now to know that Jesse had not betrayed Talon, he turned the cameras attention to Amelie, who was sitting on the carpeted floor cross legged and a look of cool detachment firmly on her face. Yoga, it seemed, was what occupied her mind at this moment. Sighing, he shut down the interior cameras, transferring the power from interior surveillance to propulsion and the over-clocked stabilizers. It would not be long until they reached the silent mountains of the Rio Grande forest. Formerly a reservation, the trees had been summarily chopped down and refurbished into materials to be used for the Omnic war effort, the mountains robbed of their green and lush coverings, now exposed rock and sediment the only greeting for the few visitors that remained.

The black triangular craft thrummed through the air, engines pulsing a deep red with a surge of energy to momentum arresters and began its landing procedure. An unexpected visit to be sure, but a welcome one, so Sombra couldn't complain. It had been such a long time since she saw anyone in person since she had kept most of her communications with clients strictly holographic. A major Talon sympathizer, Sombra had an odd back-story though if anyone were to compare the stories she had told they could find out that indeed, they were all falsehoods. Only Sombra knew where she came from, what her real name was, what her political inclinations were or where her **true** loyalties lay. Sombra shut down the defense protocols around her base and activated her cloaking device, light shimmering around her until she was rendered completely invisible while she took off to the landing pad.

Jesse was slightly drunk when the ship set down, the hiss of steam filling the air while the engines cycled the super heated air out, greedily sucking in the chill night air. He blinked hard, warding off sleep for a while, Reyes standing by the opening doors while cool air of the night whistled past them into the interior of the ship. There was still much to be done and little time to do it in. Just because the base had been destroyed did not mean that danger was gone. A blast such as that was not invisible and the flash of that detonation had been seen up to six hundred miles away. It would not be long before the ghost town ceased being a secure location and they had to relocate. Reyes had several locations in mind to relocate to but there was one in particular that could work as a new base for Talon as a whole. It was out of the way, secluded and best of all, no one had been in that location in almost one hundred years. 'Yes… Ecopoint Antartica will do well…' He thought while he walked down the ramp, boots crunching on the gravel just bordering the permacrete of the landing pad. The ship gleamed beneath the cloudy light of the moon and its lights died away as the power sources began to refuel, a cable snaking up into one of the outlets and sending both fuel and electricity from the twin tubes contained within the thick conduit.

Sombra smiled, safely hidden with their ship as Reyes, Amelie and Jesse walked into her house. She knew that Reyes knew that she was a curious individual and without a doubt Reyes was aware of her snooping around his ship. So snoop around she would. Her built in Geiger counters began ticking as she neared the area that contained the navigation and GPS systems. Touting, she ran a finger along the panels containing the damaged systems, the metal plates sliding out of the way and exposing the radioactive systems. She unplugged the boxy container, manicured nails scraping against the aluminum walls, her Geiger counters speeding up as smoke began to spiral from the connector holes. The guidance systems were fried but they could be salvaged. Sombra was sure she had some spare parts in the basement of the stout building she called her base, all it would take was several changes, maybe a new transceiver. The acrid scent of burnt plastic reached her dainty nose and she snorted, gagging at the acrid stench. It would definitely need a new transceiver, the stench of burnt plastic and fused glass was unmistakable.

Jesse gazed around the comfortable looking for their host. He'd heard rumors of the hacker called Sombra and he was somewhat excited to meet the mysterious man. Thinking a little he settled on considering Sombra as a group of people. He did not expect a woman shimmering into being clutching a foul smelling box of metal and poking his nose with a long nail. "Boop." She smiled and placed the box on a table before sitting down on the floor, cross-legged before the three agents, all smiles as Reyes nodded at her, Amelie glared annoyed at the hacker while Jesse ogled the female before him. Pointing a gloved finger at Sombra, Jesse turned to Amelie and Reyes. "This is Sombra? I was hoping for someone more…" He tried to find a word to express his disappointment before Sombra snickered and winked at him. "Expecting someone more masculine, boyo?" She finished his sentence, sending a rosy hue to Jesse's cheeks, more irritation than embarrassment. He cleared his throat, forcing a tight smile to his face. "I was thinking more on the lines of taller, but yeah." He replied as Sombra chuckled.

Even though it did not seem like it, Reyes was in communication with the council that led Talon, in communication with Talon himself. Talon was however, not specified of gender. He was simply referred to as a male in the few times he was referred to at all. Talon's identity was of utmost secrecy, just as he wanted it. Reyes nodded slightly, assenting and not giving away any of his own emotional state though he was quite pleased. Talon did indeed like his recommendation for commandeering the abandoned ecopoint in Antarctica and was in the middle of assigning Reyes the command of the new base. Funds had already been secured and the transmission to the displaced agents had been doubly encoded and sent. No received confirmations were needed, since no return signal could be traced. Talon paid only for the best in communications. Such was the need when ones group was considered an illegal grouping of 'different minded' individuals; one could never be too careful. Reyes replied softly, accepting the assignment before nodding and shutting off his comm-link, finger pressing the miniscule button in the tiny plastic nub in his ear. He stood and all present followed suit. There was a look in his eyes that did not recommend ignoring his queues. "Talon has tasked us with commandeering the abandoned ecopoint in Antarctica. We are to take off as soon as we can with direction south. The base is abandoned so we can expect little to no resistance." This drew a chuckle from Jesse and Reyes turned to glare at the younger man. Sometimes Reyes forgot where Jesse came from or even how old he was. Reyes had been off fighting for his country when Jesse had just gotten out of diapers. "Anything to add, Deadeye?" The use of Jesse's codename denoted that Reyes meant business and that Jesse's humor was not appreciated at that moment. Swallowing noisily, Jesse shook his head shortly. "Good…" Reyes said before returning to the impromptu briefing. "Sombra, you are coming with us." She shrugged. This was no shock to her, plus she had wanted to find a new place to stay at anyway. Amelie raised a hand and Reyes nodded, granting permission to speak. "What are we going to do about the temperatures? It is freezing in Antarctica." Amelie enjoyed being more 'free' with her attires, claiming that it allowed her to move more freely in between sites, an ability that had proved invaluable many a mission and that had saved her life more times than she cared to count. A rueful smile on Reyes' and Jesse's faces denoted that they had both reached the same conclusion. Amelie's scantily style of clothing had to go.

Meanwhile, back in the ranch, commander Morrison sat at his desk, mouth curving down in displeasure at the botched scout mission to the Talon HQ. Bad enough that he had lost several ships and many agents, now he had to explain to the President of the American Federation why a fifty kiloton nuke had detonated so close to the border between the Great American Wastes and the conglomeration of independent City-States that constituted the remainder of America and had caused the death of many Americans. He was not looking forward to that phone call. His communicator rang mutedly, the I.D of the American president flashing softly. His finger hovered over the 'accept call' button when he frowned. Did he really have to explain anything to the woman? He had no control over actions Talon took. They were terrorist, dangerous and deadly as it had been clearly stated by their base safety systems. He sighed, pressing down on the screen and thankful that it was not a video call. "Commander Morrison, I have received very perturbing news." He groaned, slightly annoyed at the use the woman had for big fancy words that made her sound 'photosynthesis,' as she had once said in an interview. "Yes, Madam President. I have received the reports too." He was going to continue when the president interrupted. "Commander, I had thought that Overwatch was capable of defending the world from Omnic threats. The Geneva accords demand that your group of agents defend 'humans' and 'natural sentients' from the dangers of 'rogue intelligences of artificial designs.' What is this?" The commander groaned and was about to reply when he choked on his words. "Madam President, did you say Omnic threats?" He was shaken. "It was Talon the group that detonated that nuclear warhead, not the Omnics!" So on went the discussion, the commander trying to convince his fellow American of the truth.

Sombra sneered as she listened in on the conversation, the sound played out on the speakers around her house for all of her guests to hear. Reyes nodded with approval. It had been a stroke of genius to play on the American Presidents almost-xenophobic apprehension against Omnics. And Talon was safely once more in the cover of darkness, back in the safety of anonymity. Just as Talon had planned.


	5. Il fait si froid!

**Apologies for the slight delay. The muse struck me one night and I have spent most of last two weeks working on several first chapters for a couple of projects of mine. The first chapter to another fanfic I will call 'The Deaths of Overwatch.' The idea is to depict what I consider to be a 'glorious' death in battle, each chapter with a rough length of 10k words and based on one hero. The first chapter fo an original fiction I will call 'The Most Dangerous Man' dealing with the idea of a very powerful and (charismatic) criminal. I trust that it will be met with approval from you, the audience. Also, I grinded to get the McCree Blackwatch skin for three weeks and didn't get it, so I was also kind of upset about that (*-*). Now that you have read that PSA, thank you and enjoy this chapter.**

The sun was rising in the Antarctic skyline, the air dead silent save for a faint droning that was growing in intensity each second. A large complex of buildings was built into the side of an ice mountain where the Chinese had built their eco-point in the refuge of the mountainside. Some unknown event of which Talon was not aware had caused all six members in the compound to enter cryogenic sleep. And so they waited to be found by anyone, their frozen sleeping forms awaiting wakefulness that would only arrive for one.

Amelie was not satisfied with the current situation at all. She hated the cold, she hated snow and she hated the most, with a fervent passion… the cold. She had always been a woman to enjoy some liberty in her attire and it was no lie to say that seeing her enter ready position for an assassination was comparable to the smoothness of cool silk. So she was enjoying what she knew to be the last moments of warmth any of Talon agents would enjoy for however long they maintained control of that base. And how was she doing that? She had locked herself in a private room within her assigned air-destroyer, cranked the heat in the air commands to 'Maximum' and she had spent the majority of the time with her eyes closed, her mind drifting through memories of the sun, being at the beach, whatever semblance of warmth she could condition her body and mind to associate with the blistering heat in the room. She had even begun to sweat mildly when the comm buzzed, forcing her to get up, wiping off the beads of perspiration forming on her forehead and opening communication with a terse grunt of annoyance. "What is it?" She snapped. A sharp intake of breath from the other side followed by someone clearing their throat sent a shiver down her back as a click signaled a cut in communication. The shiver originated not from the cold though, but from annoyance mixed with a generous helping of white-hot fury. She had given specific instructions **NOT** to be disturbed. Just about when she was considering snapping the neck of whoever had thought it a good idea to interrupt her, the comm clicked again and this time the voice actually communicated a short message. "Agent Widowmaker, Talon would like to order you to call HQ. He- I mean, they would like to hear your report on the Overwatch surprise attack on Talon HQ. A line has been secured on that comm unit; just hang up on this call-" and she did. A finger jabbed down on the end-call button, this time a shiver of anxiousness running along her smooth back, muscles rippling beneath the pale skin that her top revealed. She placed the portable unit in her ear and took a calming breath, some exercises for her to relax. Talon rarely called directly, and even more exotic were his summons for direct interrogation. Several minutes were granted to her to prepare her say when the comm unit in her ear beeped softly. She heard a distorted voice, voice scrambling programs at maximum potency now that Sombra had gotten her hands on Talon tech and some software. Amelie had only once heard the voice of Talon, his vocal signature scrambled so as to make him sound like a young child one moment and then an elderly gentleman the next. This however was greatly improved in comparison, with voice registers ranging from females to a hybrid of man and beast. If that made any sense, which to her it did not. Sombra had always been one for the odd spectrum for as long as Amelie had known the hacker. "Widowmaker, deliver your report." She snapped back to reality and gave a micro nod; drawing one final breath before she began.

Meanwhile, back in the ranch, Jesse had been busily raiding the mini- bar stashed in his private quarters aboard Amelie's airship, the massive several hundred meters long version of a Talon scout ship silently slicing through clouds, endless ocean stretching beneath them as they sped along at Mach Two. His quarters had the enviable view afforded by twin full room length and width windows, glass so translucent it was almost not there, which allowed for a greater appreciation of the horizon. At least it would have, if their destination had not been the Antarctic wastes. Hence, the only view available to Jesse for the past two hours had been the white of the clouds above, and the blur of the ocean beneath. It was bound to bore anyone, so it had been a small surprise when the notice reached one of the crew members that Jesse had encountered whatever liquor had been stashed in his suite, and was happily relieving Talon of the vice forming drinks. He had already finished a bottle and a half of three-star bourbon, seven cans of beer and several shots worth of cherry vodka (do not ask) when the light began to blink in the ceiling. Slowly looking upwards, he frowned at it while his alcohol addled mind tried to remember what exactly it was that that very light signified. It certainly was not related to crashing, that much he was sure of. No bottles had rolled on the floor and against the walls, so the ship remained stable. He braced himself on the table and stood, his boots discarded at the foot of the comfortable looking bed along with his hat, gloves and cloak. His revolver glinted darkly in the light, pulsating softly as the red hue's blinked on and off over the wooden paneling. Finally he reached the window and paused. When had it snowed? Was it Christmas already? He shook his head and slapped himself once in the face, the sound echoing in the empty cabin space before fading away. Looking again, this time with a somewhat clearer mind, his brain capable of processing images properly this time; snow, so that meant they were close. Reyes had sent them a coded message several days earlier, giving the all clear to arrive with the rest of the Talon task force, equipment and enough supplies to adapt the ancient Echo-point into a fully operational Talon HQ. Fifty kiloton nuclear warhead included. A robotic voice buzzed through the speaker over head, informing him that the air-ship would begin landing procedures shortly.

Jesse hastily grabbed his hat, gloves and cloak, quickly pulling them on, the soft leather snug around his hands with the added comfort of fur covering the interior. All of his clothes had been adapted for survival in the frozen lands that comprised the Antarctic continent, so there was no danger of freezing too fast. The techs had had a good laugh when they had phrased it that way. He had laughed too after shooting one of them in the leg. Eggheads…

He pursed his lips, firmly placing his hat on his head before he pressed his fist against the button that would open the doors to the safety seat with its sixteen point safety harnesses. Mach Two was no laughing matter, so it was best to take such speeds seriously. Sitting on the comfortable seat, resting his arms on the armrests, the safety straps spun out, quickly lacing and clicking into place. And just in time too, because not a minute after Jesse had secured himself that the massive deceleration forces exerted on the ship nearly caused him to black out, since the landing itself required to spiral downwards to a runway, thus losing its acceleration and allowing for landing to proceed with safety. The materiel carried within the ship was necessary for the survival of the personnel that would staff the reclaimed Eco-point; being careful was a must. Jesse gritted his teeth, biting down on his cigar and groaning as the approach angles grew sharper. Blackness began to cover the corner of his sight when a whine emanating from the engines cut through the loud silence and the ship was rocked by the g-forces of massive air braking. Metal groaned as the ship shook and then silence was king. Taking a deep breath, Jesse slapped the release catch and shakily stood up. Going as fast as Mach Two, he had forgotten that it would be a fast flight, but he was never going to fly Concord ever again. Just as he was about to light his cigar, Amelie opened the doors to his room. "Gabriel awaits us." And with that, she left. "Coming?" He heard her say as she got farther away. "Yeah," he replied. "Coming…"

Gabriel stood in the open containment area where six cryogenic pods had been located. He had been told by Talon himself that the emplacement would be deserted. Though this did count as empty; waking dates had not been properly set by the cryogenic experts that had staffed the Eco-point. These people were not waking up any time soon, though as leading commander of the new Talon HQ he had to do something about them. He was still standing before the cryo-units when Jesse and Amelie walked up beside him, Jesse's apparently eternal cigar hanging from his lips as he looked over the frozen forms contained within the metal pods.

"Who are they?" Asked Jesse, walking forwards and staring into the pod that contained a Chinese woman, with the Chinese characters for 'Climate Expert' written… no, scratched was a more fitting word; scratched into the metal of the cryo-pod. "The former owners of this Eco-point, we are unaware of the nature of the event that caused them to enter hibernation, though my techs have been busily working into the computers in this station for any clues." Jesse felt like she looked familiar and he revised the list of people he had ever crossed, or locked horns against though no one came to mind. But he was sure he had seen her face before. Most like on the holo-screens… Suddenly, he remembered. Snapping his fingers, Jesse pointed at the diminutive woman. "That's Mei-Ling Zhou, the climate change advocate." A gust of wind sent a flurry of snowflakes around the Talon representatives. Gabriel beckoned two agents to his side. "Open this pod." He snapped at them, tugging at his exposed beard beneath the heavy scarf he had donned. The agents began typing furiously away at the controls of the life pods. If this was indeed Mei-Ling, then Overwatch would be aware of her location and this base would fail as a secret location for Talon. Best to avoid any complications; he paced before the remainder of the cryo-pods. These individuals had been taken for dead several years ago… It would not hurt to reaffirm the truth a little. Turning to Jesse and Amelie, he could see that they had both arrived at the same conclusions he had. Gabriel had an idea for getting rid of the evidence, but he was also curious. What had caused them to enter the cryo-freeze without setting a waking date? And why had Overwatch forgotten about this Eco-point? In all his years working as Blackwatch commander he had never been told a reason why the Eco-point had been abandoned. Not that he had not tried to find out; as Blackwatch commander he had been on the top. He was the one that assigned clearance levels. He had been the only person in all of Overwatch with clearance-level Hades. There was no classified file that had not gone through his hands, no alert-flags he didn't observe when someone without clearance looked where they shouldn't. It made no sense, and the only way to know would be to ask the original six crewmembers of the base. One of the Talon technicians cleared his throat, to which Reyes simply nodded. "R-right. Y-you see S-sir, t-the cont-trol p-panels are a-all frozen… We r-run the risk o-of killing all of the i-individuals h-here. I r-recommend that w-we r-recalibrate the c-circuitry and—" At this point Reyes rolled his eyes, a groan of disgust in his throat. "What, is it too cold?" He took the datapad and lifted the holographic levers. A loud hiss and overpoweringly thick cloud of steam emanated from the metal frames, the sophisticated lids rising upwards along the grooves of the machinery. All six pods had been opened. "Sir! I m-must protest!" said the younger agent. "Y-you could k-kill any one of them!" Reyes laughed, a throaty chuckle as he gave the pad back to the agent. "I only need one of them alive…"

Mei felt the cold on her cheeks before she even woke up completely. Shivering, she gasped as a snowflake landed on her neck, melting and leaving a short trail of water down her feverish skin. She did not remember setting a waking date, so why was she awake? People were mumbling. Were the rest of her crew awake? No, that was impossible. No one had set a waking date… She peeked through a half closed eye lid and gasped, eyes shooting wide open while she tried to scramble away from the source of her fright. "Reyes! What… what are you doing here? I thought I told Commander Morrison not to come looking for us." Reyes was alone, the snow flurrying around him as the wind gusted through the shattered windows. No one was around him, that Mei could see. "Great, another psycho-active hallucination…" Mei had begun to be annoyed with her weak inner psyche's ability to deal with incessant solitude. This was not the first time she had unwittingly formed up a psychological construct to provide some diversity in the monotony of her daily live. It had gotten out of hand several weeks before the disastrously immense snow storm had overtaken the compound.

Meanwhile, Reyes looked at Mei with some slight surprise. She believed him to be an elaborate formulation of her mind? Well, he could certainly play along with that role. All the easier to gain her trust, but with the added difficulty of uncomfortable questions which he was expected to know the answer to. Not that it would be difficult. This was merely to satisfy his curiosity, and in no way did it affect the safety of his plans for this base. Now all that was left was for him to answer her questions and find out what he wanted to know.

 **Now, kindly leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter.**


	6. Recollections and Memories

**It is a delight to read reviews, it truly is. I trust you will enjoy reading this chapter; I have made it twice as long so as to give you a little more reading material while I work on my other projects. While you wait on the next chapter, I am assigning you, The Reader, a little something to give me direction for this story. I am debating with the idea of having readers participate on the story itself. Let me know if you would be interested through a Private Message. Now please, enjoy this chapter. It should be fun.**

The sun had just begun to set on the horizon when Jesse and Amelie decided to get a little closer to the action, maybe catch a view as to what in the hells had gotten into Gabriel's head that made him want to talk to the climate expert. Bad enough in Amelie's opinion that he had rushed all of the agents to hide any clue that Talon had taken control of the base, Reyes had also had the audacity to tell her to get in position for a quick take down if the scientist proved to be useless as an informant. Getting into position for a kill never irritated Amelie. The location however, was another matter entirely. So there she had been, with Jesse as her spotter (not that she needed one) when with a huff of frustration, she got up brushing the snow from her thick coat and silently dropped down from the slated ice plateau she and Jesse had camped at for the last forty-five minutes. Collapsing her rifle into itself, there were several loud snaps and where before there had been a sniper rifle, now Amelie held a box that weighed a great deal more than it should for its size. Satisfied, she began walking off, the ice cracking beneath her sharply heeled boots while Jesse slid down the side, his own boots kicking up snow that had been left undisturbed for several years in two lines so straight they would have made any ski-jumper proud. He quickly caught up to her and they walked forward in silence, the only sound the gusts of wind that robbed their bones of warmth.

Jesse pressed a hand onto his hat when a strong gust of wind blew snow into their eyes. The sun had finally finished its hours of light and the change in temperature while severe, was nothing compared to the strength of the wind that was being kicked up by the pressure differentials in the atmosphere's many layers. Squinting with their eyes in order to find a path to the base, Jesse beckoned for Amelie to follow behind him, the reflex of courtesy still ingrained in his psychological DNA. She snorted and waved a hand, finishing it with a very un-lady like one-fingered salute directed squarely at Jesse. He pursed his lips and was about to spit in her direction when he thought better of it. It did not compute in his thought process that she would not like it. The simple deterrent was having the spittle freeze on his lips which was a great deal more painful than it seemed. Instead, he chuckled and returned the gesture, with an underhanded sleeve cut. It was a mystery in Talon what caused them to be both enemies and friends alike. Not even Reyes was sure; but he didn't care, really. As long as they completed their missions successfully he did not care if they were at each other's throats or drinking tea together.

Amelie shivered within her coat and closed her eyes. Remembering the warmth of the beach, the heat of the sun as it kissed at her back, its warm rays bathing her and sand beneath. She began to feel some warmth and had ceased to shiver when a loud crack sounded beneath both her and Jesse. She turned around to him, arched eyebrow daring him to not tell her what the origin of that sound had been. He however, would not walk into such a simple trap, no sir. Shrugging, shoulders barely noticeably rising up under all the layers of clothing he was wearing. Only the barest hint of red illuminated the sky at this point, the wind was even more vicious and so loud that it made conversation impossible. However, Amelie did not believe Jesse and it showed. He lifted his hands up with the palms pointed out, the universal gesture for the phrase, 'I don't know what to tell you.' Amelie gave him an unconvinced look. Problem was that they had not moved at all during this whole exchange and the ice beneath them was suffering micro fractures with each passing second. Yet another snap resonated beneath them, Jesse and Amelie looked at each other then at the ground.

Amelie rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself and with the foolish American before her. "Merde…" She said as the ice finally collapsed beneath them and they plummeted into an ice tunnel, the sides speeding past them and offering no holds with which to stop their descent. Ten seconds after their drop, the walls slanted to a direction and becoming a floor with ceiling, allowing the two agents to slide and hope that they did not end up dashed against a wall of solid ice. This deep within the frozen wastes they stood a better chance of survival than outside in the open with the frozen winds. But it was a risky trade, for even though the confined tunnels were considerably warmer than the negative degrees outside, there was a problem of being found. When Reyes noticed they were gone he would dispatch all able bodied agents to find them. Problem was, not many people set their scanners to find individuals deep within the ice of Antarctica. They would be lucky if they could ever be found, even luckier if they were found alive. All these thoughts processes went through Amelie's mind as she slid down the ice, gritting her teeth as she lost control and started spinning around, losing her grip on her rifle. As a reflex though, she looked around as they sped on and made sure that McCree was safe. Not because she cared for his safety, but because he was an asset to Talon and their plans. Seeing him with arms and legs extended and sliding on his belly, he flashed her a thumbs up, letting her know he was alright. She sighed, shaking her head, long hair trailing behind her as they continued to slide down the almost vertical ice shaft.

Jesse on the other hand, looked at Amelie to check if she was injured. Nothing seemed out of place and when she looked at him, he gave her a thumbs up. Suddenly, the tunnel shot downwards again, a sharp angle sending them sliding at an ever increasing speed. Jesse maneuvered himself so that he was now sliding on his rear, reinforced denim providing a smoother experience as he sped on. Angling himself slightly, he extended an arm and shouted at Amelie, the sound amplified by the confined space they found themselves in. She turned and nodded, lips pursed in concentration as she extended her own hand and gripped his, pulling themselves together and allowing for a plan to be made.

Jesse looked around, faux disinterest lining his face as if falling down many kilometers of ice tunnel was a daily occurrence. "So Amelie, what do we do now? Think your hook can save us out of this one?" He queried, turning to look her in the eyes.

Amelie shrugged, not wanting to be the one that broke first. She dusted some snowflakes from her shoulder and shrugged, glancing around at the blurring ice walls. "Eh bien, je suppose que je pourrais vérifier." She said, switching to French. Speaking her native tongue permitted her to think faster without needing to verify the accuracy of the translation. Thankfully for the both of them, Talon believed that all agents should be able to fend for themselves in any situation, country or climate therefore all agents were fluent in at least three languages, with a passable status in three more.

Jesse had decided to learn French, since he already knew English and Independent Castilian or Spanish, as it used to be known. With a nod, he held on to her tight, not wanting to shoot past once the momentum of their fall was arrested by the advanced mechanisms of the grappling hook. Clearing his throat, he looked on and saw what seemed like an exit onto a much, much larger open space. Pointing on, he turned to Amelie. "Vérifiez, je ne pense pas qu'il reste beaucoup de temps." His accent could use some improving but the talent was there, no doubt about that.

Grudging respect showing in Amelie's yellow eyes, she held on to him and aimed to where they had come from, gritting her teeth and activating the firing mechanism. The hook shot out, a trail of smoke following the interwoven titanium and tungsten filaments that composed the thin yet durable cable growing taught as they stretched and stretched, a growl emanating from Amelie's throat as her arms strained at the weight of them both. Finally however, they slowed down and stopped and just in the nick of time. Another second and they would have fallen off the edge into a large open space beneath the ice, large enough to fit three or four bases for Talon. Jesse looked at the edge and then at Amelie, chuckling and then outright laughing. A ping sounded in their ear coms and they both pressed a finger into their built-in communicators. It was Reyes, thankfully… and boy did they have a proposal for him.

Several hours later, Reyes stood in the middle of the open space, machinery whirring and agents scurrying around. Amelie and Jesse sat around a fire, shivering with blankets wrapped around them and twin cups of caff in their gloved hands. They had been sitting pretty for a while now, and while their clothes were designed to keep them warm for extended periods of time, they had not been tested for that very situation. Heads would roll, in some cases literally.

However, Reyes was satisfied, to say the least. Here was an underground cavern that could fit two or three bases the size of the HQ they had been forced to exit due to Overwatch finding its location. Yes, Reyes was very happy by this turn of events. The climate advocate had turned out of be invaluable, giving him a great deal of information in exchange for shelter, since her popsicle friends had had a very… rough awakening. Mei Ling-Zhou would be a worthy asset of Talon once she was successfully conditioned and trained to obey Talon's orders and only Talon's orders. She had brought with her a strange little floating robot that she called Snowball and a large canister of a chemical mix-up that none of the tech's in the Technological Department could identify.

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the cave, Mei had set up a tiny workstation where she was busily mixing materials in order to properly balance the fluid in the giant canister she requested be brought with her. They thought she would willingly go with them? Reyes had to think her cryogenic sleep had terminated a great deal to neurons in her brain if he really thought she was going to follow Talon's orders like that. Oh she knew this was Talon. She had never really trusted Reyes, nor Blackwatch for that matter. They had too much free-reign over themselves, not enough accountability for any mistakes they made. Oh she had heard it over and over too. 'Blackwatch is a black-bag section of Overwatch.' That had been Reyes favorite line to spout whenever he was asked about any illegal activities Blackwatch had been rumored to participate in. She pursed her lips, hands clenched into fists as she recalled waking up. She knew all her friends were dead; there was no doubt about that. Reyes had always been a ruthless one when it came to witnesses and things he didn't want seeing the light of day. Looking around, she felt secure enough to tell Snowball of her plan, trusting the little droid to keep it secure and enact her revenge on Talon for killing her colleagues.

Funny enough, as it so happens, Amelie had been hanging about, quite literally on the ceiling, aiming her rifle at Mei's work station. Amelie's Infra-Sight helmet came equipped with one of the most advanced directional microphones in the black market and she had recorded, archived and sent a copy of the audio-files to Reyes. Not that it would come as a surprise to him. Amelie had a feeling he had prepared for every eventuality, even if it meant finishing off the petite Chinese agent. She felt a tug at her lips, the corners of her mouth forming a soft smile which due to Amelie's physical and psychological changes was the equivalent of ecstatic fan girl excitement. How she relished the killing. A true assassin, she truly was Talon's most prized marksman and cold-blooded killer.

Reyes and Jesse sat at the impromptu office space that had been set up by menial Talon workers, designed to be secure and impossible to eavesdrop into. Here, they watched the IR video footage and audio recording, Reyes sitting calmly with lips pursed into a line while Jesse fidgeted with his Zippo, all out of cigars. "… if he thinks I will willingly join Talon, that bully has another thing coming." Her voice sounded softly around the office space, almost as if she was there with them instead of kilometers away on the other side of the cave. "I'm not blind Snowball." Here there was a pause as the tiny robot whirred and beeped in agreement. "I know who these people are. They may not have any visible insignia, but I can smell the Talon rot from them." Reyes nodded, chuckling. Talon rot… She was one to talk. Jesse pointed at a decanter, arching an eyebrow to which Reyes nodded and waved a hand. Jesse stood, pouring two glasses of liquor slowly so as to not cause any unnecessary noise and miss any possible detail.

"…chemical will freeze anything it touches." At this, both Jesse and Reyes looked at each other, eyebrow arched. That was quite a claim. They'd need to verify its veracity. "Tonight I'll take my revenge…" She sniffled and wiped her nose, shaky breaths emanating from the speaker system. Reyes calmly wrote on a note pad, scribbling away with a hard-light pen before placing the note inside a folder. If Mei was really going to go on a rampage tonight, it would pay to have her under observation for the day, see what she as going to do to prepare for the battle she had no idea awaited her. Reyes accepted the glass from Jesse with a nod and took a pull from it, the liquid burning in his stomach as he mixed the remained in the glass with some club soda to dull its bite. Jesse however, didn't really care one way or another so he downed the contents in one go, grimacing as the alcohol settled in his stomach like a small fire.

"… We'll need out rest, right Snowball? I'm going to sleep for a bit so you wake me up when the rest of those bullies are all asleep." There was a sound of rustling and hiss of steam. Reyes looked impressed. Mei had frozen herself in an ice bubble to trigger instant hibernation. Looking at Jesse, he nodded and opened a channel to Amelie. "Lacroix, talk to me."

She shifted a little, still hanging upside down but enjoying the rush of blood to her head. Still, she aimed at where Mei was cocooned by her ice construct, IR goggles letting her see the form of the curled scientist, a stark red and yellow silhouette surrounded by a void of dark blue. The only other heat source was the little robot, a little ball of orange that seemed almost cute. Amelie clicked her teeth, opening a channel. "She is asleep right now, you can guess how. I believe we are good for another couple of hours until she begins her work." She readjusted the scope, amplifying her sights onto the little robot. "What are your orders?" She asked, an idea already forming in her mind as to what Gabriel was going to ask. He did not disappoint.

Sombra had been busy running around the compound, testing the duration of her invisibility and trying to see if she could tease another second or two form the energy sources that enabled her camouflage fields when a ping in her newly installed ear-com caused her to freeze in her tracks until she remembered who it was. "Hey Gabe," she greeted her fellow Latino, chuckling as she sprinted toward his secure office space. "What can I do for you?" Sombra asked, finally reaching the office space, a little out of breath but nonetheless ready to have quite the entrance. She always did have a flair for the dramatic.

Reyes had an idea. An evil idea no doubt, since it involved betrayal and a broken heart; though so long as the broken heart was not his, he really did not mind. He opened the door and estimated where the hacker would be standing. Her invisibility was undeniably advanced, superior even to the stealth Talon fighter but there was one thing she could not do. Erase foot-prints.

He looked at the prints of her feet on the ice and motioned for her to enter. Sombra of course, took it in stride, becoming visible as she sat on the spare chair and set her feet on the table, a light jive at McCree's own style of 'becoming comfortable,' as she called it. Credit to the cowboy, he replied with a grin and booped her on the nose, gloved finger pressing lightly before quickly receding back. "Boop." He stated, serving himself some more liquor with a shake of his head.

With a groan, Reyes smacked a hand on the table, startling and drawing the attention of both hacker and gunslinger. Sitting back down, Reyes opened up the file for Sombra to hear. Minutes passed and when the recording ended, Reyes and Jesse turned to the smaller woman. "Let me guess," she said, hands clasped behind her head. "You want me to reprogram the little bot so that it betrays her when she least expects it?" She felt pretty good about having figured it out all by herself, and she had, though to a degree.

Reyes and Jesse chuckled darkly. "Not exactly… True, we want you to hack the tin-can and yes, we want it to betray her. But it's not for us to keep. We want it to kill her and destroy itself in the process. According to the psychologists on board, Mei Ling-Zhou has developed an almost disturbing attachment to the droid, it having been her only companion for the gods know how long. I never did like her, she was always critical of my involvement in Blackwatch and came snooping around, triggering security clearance-flags left and right. It was a bureaucratic mess, and because of her political ties I had to let her trample over all the secrets we had in store. Black Missions that should never have seen the light of day were exposed and my reputation was ruined." Reyes paused and served himself from the decanter, taking a breath and swallowing the whisky before continuing.

"One of the reasons I joined Talon, actually… I should thank her." He said with a grin, though there was nothing friendly about that smile. Thank her he would, later that night. It had been a long day, with the excitement of losing contact with Jesse and Amelie taking the cake for unexpected things to happen. Jesse looked at the clock on the wall. It marked just past eleven thirty at night. Rubbing his eyes, he stood and stretched, cracking his knuckles and yawning. "Hey Jefe, I'm going to go get some shut eye. You know where to find me." Reyes nodded, excusing McCree from his office. Sombra yawned as well, a reflex triggered by the contagious nature of yawning. Reyes suppressed it, substituting it for a deep breath and several blinks of his eyes. Perhaps Jesse had it right. Despite their physical advancements, they were still human, and had a need for sleep. A ping sounded in their ear-coms and all pressed a finger to open their links. "I will keep watch of Zhou and will inform you all if anything changes regarding her situation." Her accent more noticeable due to needing the majority of her brain's processing power to maintain herself in her current position.

Meanwhile back in the ranch, which was the Overwatch Swiss HQ, Strike Commander Morrison was dozing off after having spent the majority of the day trying (and failing) to convince the American president that the nuclear detonation had **NOT** been orchestrated by Omnics. The shame of being from the same country as that dreadful woman weighed heavily on his shoulders and not for the first or last time did he wish that Reyes was still working for Overwatch. A soft rap came to his door and he jerked up, eyes open and hands rubbing the sleep from his face, huskily voicing a mute welcome.

Fareeha had a feeling she was before a very tired man right then and there. She once again stood at attention before falling back to the ease stance that had been drilled into her by her trainers in the Cairo Military. "Sir," she nodded at him before gently placing an old battered file on the table, dust covering the majority of its front and letting a small 'TOP' show from beneath. The fact that it was a TOP SECRET file was not surprising to Morrison. What was a surprise was the name of it. He leaned forwards, face scrunched and eyes scanning the old paper. "Hades Protocol?" He asked her, wondering if she knew though he could see she was in the dark as well. "The only person with Hades clearance was Reyes before Blackwatch was illegalized by the Rus Accords. One of the reason's he quit, as a matter of fact."

Fareeha had no idea what it had been that caused her dear adoptive uncle to quite Overwatch with such a vitriolic letter of resignation but the Rus Accords couldn't have been it. She had read and re-read the information given and the excuses used by the Viking Ambassador. If Reyes had truly quite because of that then she was still working for the Cairo military and Commander Morrison was a ghost. No, there had to be more to it. Fareeha saluted and exited, closing the door and listening as it clicked locked.

The commander felt older than usual. Unwinding the thick cord that kept the folder shut, he opened up the dusty manila page, revealing many paper files that had been censored, most likely by Reyes. Many lines of text had been covered in black ink, hiding secret information from prying eyes. It seemed to Morrison however, that Reyes didn't believe anyone's eyes were trustworthy. Rubbing his eyes with a sigh, he settled back, drifting into the land of sleep and remembering better days.

In his dreams, Morrison found himself a young, Strike Commander of Overwatch, having requested his former superior Gabriel Reyes as the leader of the covert division. There was no one he trusted more, nor anyone he'd rather have leading a secret military branch, strictly off-the-books. He walked on, enjoying the wind that came from the mountains that surrounded HQ, taking a deep breath before a young officer came up to him, saluting him and informing of an important meeting, organized at the last minute. He thanked the youth and walked off at a faster pace. Impromptu meeting his boot, there was always conspiring to ruin a perfectly good day.

Morrison reached the large oaken doors of the conference room and opened them, pausing to see who else had been informed. Reyes sat at the head of the table, calmly looking over several folders and clutching a very large sharpie, reading a phrase and running the tip over it, moving onto the next piece of potentially disastrous information. Clearing his throat, Morrison made his presence to the largely empty room. Reyes held up a single finger, now voicing the phrase he was reading. "… Anubis still struggles against the protections and new programs… have to be developed." With that, he ran the tip across the phrase, essentially erasing it from existence. "Morrison, it is good to see you. Did the cadet find you quickly?" He asked standing and giving a languid salute. It still irked him that Jack had been selected as Strike Commander over him but he managed to hold it in check. Not one to let personal life get into work, Reyes swallowed and cleared his throat. "The rest should be coming soon." He added as Morrison tried to see past the tall Latino and read from the files. Turning to the table, Reyes closed them and placed them inside a secure containment field. "Sorry, those are um… very secret. Only I have clearance to read them."

Morrison arched an eyebrow before turning to Reyes. "And who designed that clearance system?" Reyes pursed his lips, knowing full well the answer. "Some things need to stay secret, Morrison." He calmly stated, crossing his arms. "Even if those secrets would seem harmless." Jack looked at his old superior and debated whether to order him to give him Hades clearance as well but then thought better of it. It would not do to be caught arguing so soon after being assigned as Strike Commander. The doors opened and in came Reinhardt, Dr. Angela, Ana Amari and several other members of the Overwatch leaders. Notably absent was Gerard, the French delegate who had disappeared after finding his wife, whom had been allegedly kidnapped by Talon. Morrison frowned, it was unorthodox for Gerard to be gone for so long, even if it was after a mission.

Reyes cleared his throat and nodded at the chair he had been sitting on, taking his materials with him and sitting beside it as Jack rested himself at the head of the table. With a nod, Jack turned to Reyes, crossing his arms before him. "What is this meeting about, Reyes? I am sure we are all dying to know."

With a sigh, Reyes grabbed a remote control and turned on the large projector, shooting an image onto the wall behind Jack. He turned around, seeing the reaction it had elicited from the rest of the leadership and he swore, long and hard. It was an image of Overwatch Counter-Terrorism expert Gerard Lacroix, the image taken by one of their spy satellites that had been orbiting above the residence in France he and his wife had. Despite the familiar surroundings, it was not difficult to see what had happened. Gerard was dead, asphyxiated and there was no trace of his wife. He stood and pointed at his dead friend. "Reyes, what happened. Now." Nodding, Gabriel opened one of the files and turned to all present.

"Amelie Lacroix was kidnapped several months ago by Talon agents and only a couple of weeks was she found y her husband, Gerard." He nodded at the image. "This morning Gerard failed to reply to a message I sent him and I directed one of the satellites near the area to check up on him, given that we have no active agents in France. Everyone, I believe that Amelie was brainwashed and instructed to kill her husband. Her whereabouts are currently unknown." Reyes sat down, nodding at those gathered. "His death is a tragic loss to our organization but we cannot let it slow us down." Said Morrison, sitting back at the chair and looking a little older than before. "We can mourn him later. Now, we must concentrate on finding Amelie Lacroix and avenging his death." Captain Amari raised her hand, to which Morrison nodded at her.

"With all due respect Commander, Amelie Lacroix was… is a very good sharpshooter. It will be dangerous to confront her, especially if she now counts with the financial backing of Talon and his group." Reyes stood up and addressed those present. "While that may be so, Talon is an illegal organization. No government would be caught dead giving assistance to them, let alone willingly harboring their bases. It will not be difficult to find her and when we do, some of my guys in Blackwatch can interrogate her for what she knows. Who knows, we may get some valuable information."

Commander Morrison sighed and stood, all of those present doing the same, even if Reyes was a little slow to rise. "I want her found and I want her found in forty-eight hours tops. Bring me Amelie and we will find Talon. They won't risk having such a valuable asset fall into our hands, no. They will come for her to either kill her or take her back. And we must be ready."

Awaking with a start, Commander Morrison rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on his wall. It was three in the morning and far away in the south pole a battle was about to be waged between elite Talon operatives and a Chinese scientist with nothing to lose.

 **You all have my most sincere apologies for taking so long. Life is hard, oh well. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and can leave a review to tell me what you thought. It takes a bit to write 5,000 words but if that is what you guys want I will work on it. I'm still working on 'The Death's of Overwatch' and am almost done writing Reinhardts chapter (which is the first one.)**


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